Santa Rosa County to end program to provide veterans free transportation to VA clinic

Veteran Robert Fretz waits for a response to his comments during a Gulf Coast Veterans Health Care System town hall at the Joint Ambulatory Care Center on Wednesday, December 6, 2017.(Photo: Jody Link/online@pnj.com)

A Santa Rosa County program that provided some veterans with free rides to Pensacola's Veterans Affairs clinic is set to end March 31 because of funding problems.

"This was a wonderful service for our veterans, and I am very disappointed to see it end," said Santa Rosa County Commissioner Don Salter, who helped to create the program in 2012.

The Santa Rosa Vets to VA Clinics program has served about 100 veterans in the last year, providing 395 trips totaling 15,297 miles, the county said.

Salter said he and other county leaders are looking at ways to continue to serve veterans who have difficulties accessing the Pensacola clinic at 790 Veterans Way, near the Pensacola Naval Hospital. One option is working with Disabled American Veterans, which provides shuttle service for veterans from Eglin Air Force Base to the Pensacola clinic, he said.

The loss of about $90,000 in grant funding has made it difficult for the council to provide transportation services for both the general population and veterans, he said.

"Before this, the veterans were pretty much guaranteed a ride every Tuesday and Thursday," he said. "Now they are going to have to call and book a trip on a first-come, first-served basis and (Tri-County) is already booking about 30 days out."

Ward said he hopes the county can convince Disabled American Veterans to add a Santa Rosa County stop to its Eglin to Pensacola route, possibly on Interstate 10 at Avalon Boulevard.

County officials have encouraged veterans who have questions about the service to call Santa Rosa Transportation at 850-626-6806.

Melissa Nelson Gabriel can be reached at mnelsongab@pnj.com or 850-426-1431.